Car parts firm secures £10m contract with GM (From The Advertiser Series)

Car parts firm secures £10m contract with GM

10:18am Friday 1st March 2013 in Business By Steven Hugill

A NORTH-EAST engineering firm has secured an exclusive £10m contract to supply made-to-order car parts to a multi-national company.

ElringKlinger (GB), which employs about 140 people in Redcar, east Cleveland, will make exhaust manifold gaskets and turbo heat shields for General Motors.

The firm has invested £1.5m in a production line which will enable it to make about 500,000 parts every year at its Redcar plant, and hopes the move will help to eventually create as many as 60 jobs.

The company is expected to start making the parts, which are part of a five-year deal, later this year, and previously spent £250,000 on a precision manufacturing process to seal automotive parts and reduce energy emissions that could potentially replace metal gaskets.

Ian Malcolm, managing director of ElringKlinger (GB), said: “The introduction of these new processes and advanced assembly lines take the business to the next level and will result in higher quality robust designs and increased value for money for the customer.

“Previously, such parts were manually assembled, taking up to five minutes at a time, but the installed assembly line will ensure the entire process takes just 30 seconds.

“Working with such a highprofile client as General Motors has allowed us to further invest in on-site resources, significantly expanding our manufacturing capabilities, and it is testament to the hard work and high standards of production here at Redcar.”

The company recently won business from BMW for its Mini model, making Elring- Klinger GB the only volume producer of under-body heatshielding in the UK, and it will also help General Motors’ Hungary plant with diesel engine work.

Mr Malcolm said: “We are firmly committed to the reduction of CO2 emissions, both in terms of the product and how it is delivered, and we will be assisting the Hungary team with a new range of 1.6 mid-size diesel engines to cut fuel consumption by up to ten per cent.

“There is a clear direction from our customers on reducing the environmental impact of the automotive industry and that is something which we endeavour to consider at ElringKlinger.”